Written for landscapers and lawn care routes, grounds maintenance contractors, tree services and arborists, irrigation, hardscape and fencing installers, and landscape firms that sell snow and ice work, in any US state.
The short version
- Stop treating landscaping as farm work.Mowing, and planting trees you did not grow, is not agriculture: hours over 40 a week earn time and a half (As of Oct 2026).
- Work out each week's regular rate.Divide the week's pay by all hours worked, then pay an extra half of that rate for every hour over 40.
- Plan H-2B visa hires around the three-fourths rule.Offer at least three-fourths of the job order's hours every 12 weeks, or every 6 if certified for under 120 days (As of Oct 2026).
Many landscape crews are paid a flat day rate, and many owners believe landscaping counts as farm work. It does not. Mowing lawns, and planting trees and shrubs you did not grow, fall outside the agricultural exemption, so your crew is owed time and a half for every hour over 40 in a workweek, whatever the pay plan.
Overtime applies to landscape crews
Hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at time and a half, and landscaping is not agriculture for the farm overtime exemption. California adds daily overtime after 8 hours and double time after 12. As of Oct 2026.
29 U.S.C. 207 and 203(f); 29 CFR part 780; Cal. Lab. Code sec. 510
The day rate trap
A day rate still owes overtime. The regular rate is the week's pay divided by all hours worked, and each hour over 40 earns an extra half of it.
| Day rate pay: 5 days at $200 | $1,000 |
| Overtime premium: 12 hours at half the $19.23 regular rate ($1,000 / 52 hours) | $115.38 |
| Pay owed for the 52-hour week | $1,115.38 |
An hourly crew member at $20 for the same 52 hours earns $1,160.00 (40 x $20 plus 12 x $30).
Unpaid overtime can be claimed back for 2 years, 3 if willful, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages.
- Workers' comp: in NCCI states landscape gardening is class code 0042 and tree pruning and trimming is 0106, at a much higher rate. Reporting tree work as 0042 is the audit finding that costs most. California uses its own WCIRB codes.
- Form I-9: complete section 2 within 3 business days of the start date. Florida requires private employers with 25 or more employees to use E-Verify for new hires. As of Oct 2026.
H-2B: the paperwork starts months before the season
- Get the wage, then file.Request the prevailing wage first (ETA-9141), then file the job order with the state workforce agency and the ETA-9142B 75 to 90 days before the date of need. For an April 1 start, that means filing in January: applications filed January 1 to 3 go into a random order, and the 33,000 regular visas for April to September start dates usually go on those alone. As of Oct 2026.
- Recruit US workers.Contact former US workers, post the job at the worksite, keep the job order active and hire any qualified US applicant referred until 21 days before the date of need. Keep the recruitment report. As of Oct 2026.
- Pay at least the highest rate.Pay at least the higher of the OFLC prevailing wage on the certification and any applicable federal, state or local minimum wage, for every hour, at least every 2 weeks, with itemized statements. As of Oct 2026.
- Reimburse travel and visa costs.Visa, processing and border fees in the first workweek; inbound travel and daily subsistence by the time the worker completes half the period; return travel if they finish or are dismissed early. First-week pay less unreimbursed costs must not fall below the minimum wage. As of Oct 2026.
The three-fourths guarantee
Offer each worker hours equal to at least three-fourths of the workdays in each 12-week period, or each 6-week period if the certification is under 120 days. If you fall short, pay what the worker would have earned for the shortfall. Hours offered count even if declined, and rain days you do not offer work count against you. Appropriations riders since fiscal year 2016 bar DOL from spending money to enforce it, but the rule has not been withdrawn, so plan to meet it. As of Oct 2026.
20 CFR 655.20(f)
| One worker: 315 hours guaranteed (three-fourths of 60 workdays x 7 hours), 280 offered, so 35 hours at $18.50 | $647.50 |
| The other 7 workers at the same shortfall | $4,532.50 |
| Owed across 8 workers | $5,180 |
Landscaping cannot use H-2A, which is for agricultural labor. H-2B is the route, and an immigration attorney or experienced agent should handle every filing.
Asked in Greymill
Mowing, and planting trees and shrubs you didn't grow, fall outside the farm exemption.
Every hour over 40 in a workweek earns time and a half, and California adds daily overtime after 8 hours (As of Oct 2026).
One worker's 52-hour week:
Day rate pay: 5 x $200 = $1,000
Regular rate: $1,000 / 52 hours = $19.23
Overtime extra: 12 hours at half of $19.23 = $115.38
Owed: at least $1,115.38, not $1,000
Waiting costs more. Unpaid overtime can be claimed back for 2 years, 3 if willful, plus the same amount again as liquidated damages (As of Oct 2026).
Fix it now: pay the half-time extra each week, or move the crew to hourly pay with overtime.
Send me last summer's hours and I'll work out what you may owe.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Staff & HR works it through for your business.
I run a landscaping or gardening business in [state], in the US. I have [number] crew members paid [day rate or hourly] working about [hours] a week in season, and I plan to bring in [number] H-2B workers for a [date] start. Check my pay plan for overtime, tell me what I may owe for past weeks, check my workers' comp class codes, and lay out the H-2B timeline, costs and the hours I must guarantee.
More for landscaping and gardening in the US
- Pricing a crew hour and a mowing stop so the drive time is paid forBuild your rate from a burdened, billable crew hour, then price each stop by the minutes on site plus the minutes driving to it, because route density is where the margin is.Read the lesson
- Making it through the winter when the mowing stops and payroll does notLate-winter payroll, equipment and materials come before the first spring payments, so smooth your income, take lawful deposits and line up credit in the fall.Read the lesson
- Do I charge sales tax on mowing, and who needs a 1099 from me this year?Whether landscaping is taxable depends on the state and on whether the job is maintenance or an improvement, and the 1099 threshold changed for 2026.Read the lesson
- Can my crew spray the weeds, build the patio and dig the irrigation line without a license?Pesticides, installs, irrigation and digging each have their own state or local license or notice rule, and in California an unlicensed contractor cannot sue to collect.Read the lesson
- Snow contracts, plant warranties and lien waivers: the clauses that leave you holding the billSnow and ice work brings slip-and-fall suits that name both the owner and the contractor, where the contract, the trigger and the log decide who pays, and installs carry four clauses of their own to fix.Read the lesson
- Winning HOA and commercial maintenance bids, and keeping the account at renewalCommercial and HOA work is won on the paperwork that comes with the price: certificates, endorsements, a site plan, and terms that survive renewal.Read the lesson
- A trench, a power line or a crew member down in the heat: what to do on the dayTrenches, overhead lines, heat and mowers on slopes each have strict rules, and so does reporting when someone is hurt.Read the lesson
Open the interactive lesson · Every landscaping and gardening lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- 29 U.S.C. 207(a) (People: pay, overtime and crews)
- 29 U.S.C. 203(f); 29 CFR 780.205, 780.206 (People: pay, overtime and crews)
- Lab. Code sec. 510 (People: pay, overtime and crews)
- 29 CFR 778.112 (People: pay, overtime and crews)
- State minimum wage laws (People: pay, overtime and crews)
- 8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(ii) (People: pay, overtime and crews)
- INA 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b); 8 CFR 214.2(h)(6); 20 CFR 655 subpart A (H-2B and seasonal workers)
- INA 214(g)(1)(B), (g)(10) (H-2B and seasonal workers)
- 91 FR (2026-02131) (H-2B and seasonal workers)
- 655.15(b); OFLC randomization notice (H-2B and seasonal workers)
- WHD Fact Sheet 78 (H-2B and seasonal workers)
- WHD Fact Sheet 78F (H-2B and seasonal workers)
- Bus. and Prof. Code sec. 7031(a), (b) (Hard cases: crews, chemicals, TREES and snow)
- 8 CCR 342(a); 330(h) serious injury definition; DIR accident-reporting guidance (Hard cases: crews, chemicals, TREES and snow)
- 1910.333(c)(3); 1910.269(a)(1)(i)(E), (r), (x) (Hard cases: crews, chemicals, TREES and snow)
- 815 ILCS 675/10 and 675/15; controlling snow section (Hard cases: crews, chemicals, TREES and snow)
- 29 U.S.C. 255(a), 216(b) (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and PEOPLE)
- 29 U.S.C. 216(b), 255(a) (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and PEOPLE)
- Texas Property Code 53.021(4); actual parties and work dates require construction-counsel review (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and PEOPLE)
- General Obligations Law 5-903(2) to (3) (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and PEOPLE)